Resoldering the GPU? [was Re: [ltp] vertical lines error on the lcd screen]

[Oisin Feeley]

On 4/3/07, James Knott <james.knott@rogers.com> wrote:
> Oisin Feeley wrote:
> > On 4/3/07, Bill Andrus <languru@us.ibm.com> wrote:
> >>  > (vertical lines, console mode text garbled...)
> >>
> >> Your System Board has failed.  The ATI display chips are on a PCB
> >> carrier
> >> that is soldered into the main PCB, and (usually due to flexing or
> >> pressure
> >> around the spacebar and trackpoint buttons) the internal soldering has
> >> broken.  Problem in its earliest stages will be temperature and pressure
> >> sensitive, later it will become more pronounced with system
> >> freeze-ups and
> >> reboots.
> >
> > I've heard people talk about sending the board to have the solder
> > "re-fluxed" to correct this problem.  Do you have any idea if this is
> > really possible?
> >
>
> "Re-fluxing" wouldn't do much, as flux is only used during soldering.
> Howver, problems can often be resolved by resoldering intermittent
> connections.

Sorry, I mean "re-flowing".

So, what about reflowing the solder then?  Has anyone had success with
doing that themselves or with sending it for repair somewhere (and if
so what sort of price would it be?).

In this link the poster talks about having a screen corruption issue
similar to the OP which he fixed by resoldering the video chip himself
http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Problem_with_garbled_screen

In this link the poster describes the problem which I have (similar to
the OP's with the screen displaying gradually creeping downward
horizontal lines, but the system becoming entirely unresponsive.  This
is a T40 with an ATI Radeon Mobility M7 graphics chip.

http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Problem_with_video_related_system_lockup_II

I've disassembled extensively and have concluded that the problem is
probably due something like this (can't see any obvious cracks on the
board but lightly flexing it in that area does cause lock ups.  I can
use the machine for days on end without any symptoms if I just use a
USB keyboard/mouse, but I'd like to have a portable laptop again ;)

As you can tell, I don't know anything about soldering (I used to make
crude electronics projects when I was a child, but that was a long
time ago and I've forgotten any skill I had), so I'd rather not do it
myself.  The laptop is no longer under warranty, so I'd need to pay
whatever it takes and it's only a T40.  So, is it cost-effective to
have a "board shop" (if I can find one in Canada) do this, or should I
just go crazy and try it myself?

Oisin